


The Unlikely Marauders - A Time Travel Story

by LarkspurAlex



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29772924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LarkspurAlex/pseuds/LarkspurAlex
Summary: Draco and Ginny find themselves in 1972, the Marauders' second year, where they promptly become Gryffindors, much to Draco's dismay. Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, Draco Malfoy/Ginny Weasley, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. Time Travel

"Silly girl." Ginny could feel herself growing weaker as Tom solidified.

"No..." she struggled to her feet, her legs like pudding underneath her.

"Your time has come, Ginny. You'll never get Harry. You will die here with no one to save you, and everyone will think you were the heir of Slytherin."

Ginny whirled around, face red, "I hate you, Riddle! And your plan doesn't even make sense! If I were the heir of Slytherin, I wouldn't let the basilisk eat me, obviously."

Tom frowned, "I know that. I was just trying to make you upset," his frown turned into a cocky smile as he watched her struggle, "and it seems I've succeeded."

Ginny grabbed her wand. She didn't know any spells that would help fight a ghost, but she had to try. Dark spots appeared in her vision; her mind felt fuzzy. What were spells again? Wingardi...something? Her legs melted beneath her, and the wand slipped out of her weak hand.

"You'll never get away with this." She tried and failed to st up. "Harry will come."

"Oh yes, Harry, being the impulsive hero he is, will make his way down here, but by the time he gets here, you'll be almost dead, and I'll be stronger. I will be waiting for him, and I shall call out the basilisk to kill him."

"No, don't...you can't."

"Oh yes, I can. Ginevra, dear, I am not just any boy. I am the Lord Voldemort, and I will destroy anyone who gets in my way."

Ginny was too exhausted to be surprised by this information. "But Harry killed you."

"Ah yes, you told me. How incredibly annoying that he destroyed my body. I do not die, Ginevra. I disappear for a little while. It was inevitable that I would come back." 

Everything was black now. Maybe Ginny had closed her eyes, or maybe her eyes had just quit; she wasn't sure. "Harry...will destroy you...again."

"I sincerely doubt it. Now goodbye, dear Ginny, have a nice death. I shan't join you." The last thing Ginny heard was Tom's maniacal laugh ringing through the chamber.

* * *

_One year earlier._   
  


Draco crept across the soft burgundy carpet, slipping in between the detectors he'd been dodging all his life. His mission: get into his father's study. He'd been trying to get into it for as long as he could remember; it was a sort of test he gave himself. If he could get past his father's protection, he could get past pretty much anyone's. With his father away at the ministry and his mother out of shopping, it was the perfect time to practice. His skinny eleven-year-old body easily flitted through the laser-like magic wards. He had to go on hands and knees at times, but he made it to the door and slipped underneath, through a crack no grown person could fit through. Inside, he brushed his hands off in satisfaction. He'd made it.

The room was rather large, with an ornate mahogany desk and a very comfortable black leather chair. Scattered across the room were all kinds of magical artifacts, most highly illegal. Particularly eye-catching was a large golden snitch, roughly the size of Draco's head. It sat on the desk, on top of a pile of papers.

Eyes wide, Draco crept over to it. It glinted in the magical candlelight, shining in a way that made it quite irresistible to a curious pre-teen. What would a snitch this big be good for anyway? It's way too big to hold in one hand, and it looked heavy. He grabbed it to try to pick it up, but before he got the chance, it cracked open down the middle, revealing a small silver timeturner lying on a green silk cushion inside.

"Wow," Draco breathed, it was so beautiful, so delicate. He knew that his father would kill him if he touched it, but he couldn't help it. He picked the fragile instrument up and examined it, turning it over in his hands.

"Time?" A tinny voice said, apparently coming from the time-turner.

Draco was so startled he almost dropped it. He glanced around, making sure his parents hadn't arrived while he was distracted. No, he was still alone.

"Time?" The voice said again, insistent. 

"Uh," Draco glanced up at the clock, "It's six--"

"Malfoy, sixth year," The voice said. "Confirm? You may only use this once."

Confused and overwhelmingly curious, Draco said yes.

"Sixth year. Calibrating. Hold on tightly."

Draco had no idea what he was supposed to be holding on to, so he just gripped the time-turner with both hands.

This seemed to be the right idea. The world disappeared around him, and the time-turner pulled him forward. 


	2. Newcomers

Peter Pettigrew clutched his textbooks against his chest as he scurried behind McGonagall. He was in trouble. It seems putting an itching spell on a professor wasn't exactly acceptable behavior. Slughorn deserved it, though. He was mean.

He was being taken to see Dumbledore for his eighteenth offense in the past two months. This was his first time going alone. The other boys had no part in this one.

"You are such a nice boy, Peter," McGonagall said, "I wish you weren't involved with boys like Potter and Black. They're a bad influence on you."

"They're my friends," Peter protested, struggling to keep up with her brisk pace.

"I understand that. You shouldn't follow their example in everything just because they are your friends. They are twelve-year-old boys, not gods for you to worship."

"I know that."

McGonagall shook her head, "Pumpkin Pasties,"

The griffin door opened, and McGonagall and Peter stepped onto the moving staircase and were carried to the top.

McGonagall knocked three times on the door.

"Enter," Dumbledore called. The door to his office swung open.

McGonagall had to push the small boy to get him inside and practically carried him into his seat across from Dumbledore. She sat down next to the shaking child.

"Sherbert lemon?" he held out a small piece of candy to Peter. 

He took it and put it in his pocket, not wanting to be poisoned by his headmaster today.

"Now, what happened?"

"Well..." Peter began, "I was--"

_Pop._

A young red-haired girl appeared in the corner of the library, looking scared and confused.

"Wha--" she began, looking around. "Professor Dumbledore? Professor McGonagall?"

To Peter's great surprise, even Dumbledore looked confused, "May I ask who you are?"

"You know who I am," the girl said, looking even more nervous, "I'm Ginny Weasley."

"I am afraid I am not familiar with a Ginny in the Weasley family."

"Oh." Ginny looked around again, studying everything carefully, "Um, quick question...what's going on?"

"I think we're in 1972." A young blond boy strode into the room, barely glancing around.

"Who are you?" McGonagall asked.

"Draco Malfoy," He bowed, "From the future."

Ginny had taken several steps back as soon as the newcomer entered, "What...you're here too? How?" 

" _I_ used a time turner. I don't know how you got here."

"Tom Riddle, I guess."

Dumbledore's eyes widened alarmingly, "Tom Riddle, you say?"

"Yeah." She cocked her head, "You know him?"

"It seems we have much to talk about. Sit down, please, both of you."

Two hours later, Dumbledore sat back in his chair, fingertips touching, "I think it would be best if you two stayed here for the time being while we attempt to figure out how to get you both back to your times."

Ginny and Draco nodded.

"But you will have to go by fake names, as your last names are well known."

"But how will we explain arriving mid-term?" Draco asked.

"You will say that you are transferring from being homeschooled. Your parents were friends."

Ginny snorted.

"And you should probably be in the same house, so you can help each other keep your secret." Dumbledore continued, unperturbed.

"I am _not_ going in Gryffindor!" Draco objected.

"Well, I am not going in Slytherin!" Ginny shot back.

"There are other houses," Professor McGonagall pointed out, eyebrow raised.

"Yes, yes," Draco looked pained, "I'm not going in Hufflepuff, and Weasley here isn't smart enough for Ravenclaw."

"Excuse me?" Ginny grabbed her wand, "I'm smarter than _you_."

Draco looked down his nose at her, "You're a Gryffindor. I doubt it."

"It seems I will have to decide for you two." Dumbledore looked over at McGonagall. "Do you think you could handle them?"

McGonagall gave them a quick once over, "Certainly."

"Then you will both be in Gryffindor."

Draco made a noise of protest, and when Dumbledore looked away, Ginny stuck her tongue out at Draco.


	3. Gryffindor

Draco Hartford. That was his name now. The Weasley girl was Ginevra Mulligan.  
He hated his new name. It was ugly, common, and carried none of the pureblood prestige of the name Malfoy. Even worse than that was the Gryffindor tie around his neck.

Dumbledore had decided that he should change their appearances, too, to make their similarities to their parents less obvious. He magically died Draco's hair a mousy brown and shortened his nose a bit, and made Weasley--er, _Ginny's_ \--hair a less striking auburn.  
  
She stood next to him now, bouncing annoyingly on the balls of her feet as they waited for the feast to start.

"Will you stop?" Draco asked, exasperated.

She glared at him, "No."

But she did anyway, annoyance replacing her nervous anticipation.

The sound of chattering filled the hall. Chairs squeaked, and bookbags thumped to the floor as the students gathered for this impromptu dinner meeting.

"Silence!" Dumbledore called. Everyone stared up at him. "Two students have transferred to our school."

Curious whispers filled the hall. Ginny started bouncing again.

"Please welcome," he paused for dramatic effect, "Second-year students, Mr. Draco Hartford and Miss Ginevra Mulligan!"

McGonagall ushered Draco and Ginny through the doors and into the Great Hall.

The muttering grew louder. Students in the back strained to see. Some even stood up.

"They have undergone the sorting ceremony in my office, and they are both Gryffindors!"

Draco swallowed the vomit that rose in his throat. He'd never have thought that his name and Gryffindor would be in the same sentence, except maybe with a 'hates' between them.

The Gryffindors cheered.

"I hope that you all make them feel welcomed and comfortable in this new environment. Thank you. You two may sit down now."

Draco didn't move.

"Oh, come on," Ginny growled. She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the Gryffindor table. They sat down in the nearest empty seats, right between an older blonde girl and a handsome boy with long dark hair who looked their age.

"Hey, Draco, Ginny," The boy said, grinning, "I'm Sirius."

Oh, no. Sirius Black, the infamous murderer.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Draco bowed his head.

Sirius's face seemed to drop. He turned away. "He sounds like cousin Narcissa," he told the boy across from him, who looked like....of course, because why wouldn't he have to put up with a Potter in this timeline, too?

Potter grinned, "Wonder how such a typical pureblood got into Gryffindor."

Ginny elbowed Draco.

He turned to see that she was staring at Potter, her face as red as her hair used to be. Wonderful. "Why did you hit me?"

"You need to stop being so formal," she whispered, tearing her eyes away from Potter, "You're too obvious."

"Right, because gawking at Potter isn't obvious at all."

Her lips tightened, "You're supposed to be a half-blood, and instead, you're acting like the worst kind of pure-blood."

"It's not my fault that I'm the only one here with manners."

She rolled her eyes. "Just try to act normal."

"This is my normal."

"You know what I--"

"What are you two whispering about?" Sirius asked.

"None of your business." Ginny blurted.

"Kettleburn's niffler," Draco said at the same time.

Sirius's eyes shot up, "His what?" 

Draco leaned back. "He has a niffler in his bag that's probably going to escape any minute." 

Ginny nodded, pretending to be in on it.

"You two are crazy."

As everyone at the table turned to stare at the professor, a black thing jumped out of Kettleburn's lap and onto the Head Table. It ran along the table's length, stealing all the silverware, then leaped to the Hufflepuff table. Chaos erupted. People were screaming, younger students scattered while older ones fired all kinds of spells at the creature. One kid fainted.

Potter turned toward Draco with eyes wide with admiration. "How did you know it was there?"

Draco had seen Kettleburn put it in his bag earlier. He smirked. "Intuition."

"We'll have to put it to a vote," Sirius said.

"But I'm pretty sure we're adopting you two," Potter finished. "I'm James Potter."

Draco felt bile rising in his throat again. Adopted by a Potter. What joy.

After dinner, Peter showed Draco up to their dorm room while the other three boys ran off to do something else. A fifth bed had already been placed in the room, right next to Peter's.

"That one's yours," Peter sat down on his bed, "Make yourself at home."

The entire room was various shades of red and gold. Red curtains with gold tassels. Red blankets, gold pillowcases. Soft red carpet with gold thread sewn throughout. Draco hated it. He waved at his wand, and the blankets and pillows turned a rich black. Much better.

Peter pulled a licorice snap out of under his pillow and popped it in his mouth. "Are you always this bad at keeping secrets?"

Draco sat down, "I'm just thinking of how dead I'm going to be when I get home. I used my father's timeturner to get here, ended up in Gryffindor of all places, and now I'm associating with blood traitors like Potter and Black."

"Lucius Malfoy, right?"

Draco nodded.

"Yeah, you're dead."

Draco groaned and fell back onto his pillows, "I hate being in Gryffindor."

"I know."

Four hours later, the other boys still weren't back. Peter was pretending to sleep, but his breathing was much too uneven to fool Draco.

"Peter?"

"What?"

"These blankets are scratchy."

"Okay?"

"Gryffindor sucks."

Peter groaned under his breath. "One hundred and eighty-one..."

"I just don't understand why anyone would want to be in Gryffindor."

"Hmm."

"What?!"

"One hundred and eighty-two."

"What are you counting?"

"Nothing..."

Neither of them got much sleep that night.

Draco disappeared early in the morning, and the other Gryffindor boys gathered in their dorm to discuss their new friend.

"It's only the first day," James said, "but he's already showing a knack for finding things out. He would be a good spy."

"But he's not exactly polite. To anyone," Remus argued.

Sirius made a face, "He's over-polite, actually, but not nice at all. Like a Slytherin."

"But it doesn't matter if he's nice or not," James said, "People change. I mean, look at Remus. It's only been a year, but look at how much he's come out of his shell."

Remus rolled his eyes.

"My only problem," James continued, "Is that we already have a group, and he doesn't seem like the easiest person to fit in after we're established."

Remus nodded, "It's weird, though, that he's in Gryffindor. He seems very Slytherin to me."

"Yeah, I wonder what the hat saw in him..." Sirius mused.

"Well, that doesn't matter right now," James clapped his hands together, "If he's in Gryffindor, it's because he deserved to be. So, are we going to accept him or not?"

"Sure," Sirius said.

"Fine," Remus sighed.

"Okay with me," Peter said, thinking gloomily of all the complaints he was going to hear from Draco because of this.

"Then it's anonymous," James grinned.

"No," Remus cleared his throat, "it's not."

"What? But everyone said yes."

"Yes, so it's unanimous. Not anonymous."

Sirius threw a pillow at Remus.


	4. Ginny

After dinner, Draco had been dragged off by Peter, leaving Ginny to walk up to the Gryffindor common room on her own. The castle was a little different than she remembered. Some of the staircases led to different places than before, and some of the paintings had been moved. She hadn't really had a chance to get familiar with Hogwarts last year since she was blacked out half the time, so after a few minutes of wandering, she realized that she had gotten herself well and truly lost.

She stopped and looked around. This place should really come with a map.

"Hey!" Three young Gryffindor girls walked toward her. The one in the middle, a pretty girl with dark red hair and familiar-looking green eyes, waved at her. "You're Ginny, right?"

"Yeah."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Lily." Harry's mom. That's why those eyes looked so familiar. "This is Marlene and Alice. We're your new dormmates."

"We've been looking for you!" Alice wrapped an arm around Ginny's shoulders. "This place is way too big to go wandering around in alone."

"Thanks." Ginny was having trouble keeping her eyes off of Lily. First Harry's dad, then his mom. This was too weird. And how were they both such attractive twelve-year-olds??

"We should get back." Lily wrapped her arm around Ginny's shoulders from the other side. "Don't want you to get in trouble on your first day."

"So, what are you doing here?" Marlene walked backward in front of the group so that she could face them. "I mean, not to be rude or anything, I don't have a problem with you being here, of course, I only just met you. I just meant, why are you at Hogwarts? Why did you stop being homeschooled or whatever? Did you hate it? I think I would hate homeschooling. I mean, sleeping in is great, and I love my mom, but spending all that time with just my parents? That would suck. Did it suck? Do you hate your parents? Sorry, I don't mean to be nosy. Am I being nosy? People say I'm nosy, but I'm just so curious all the time, you know? My mom says..."

"She does this a lot," Lily whispered as Marlene continued talking.

"After a while, it just becomes background noise," Alice added.

"She'll run out of breath eventually."

Ginny laughed. "So it's just you three in the dorm?"

"Yeah, but Dorcas is our unofficial fourth member."

"Dorcas?"

"She's a Hufflepuff," Alice explained, "She and Marlene have been best friends since birth."

Marlene took a deep breath. "For real, though, why did you transfer?"

Time for that quick thinking she learned from the twins. "Well, my parents actually had to go to America for a family emergency. And we had both been begging to go to a real school for a while. I want to play with a real quidditch team, and Draco wanted to make some friends."

"Is your family okay?" Alice's bright blue eyes stared up at her.

"Oh yeah. They're fine." Ginny forced a casual tone, but her stomach twisted. Was her family okay? Had Tom won? Would she ever see them again? Why was she only thinking of this now?

"Good."

"No matter the circumstances, I'm glad you're here." Lily gave her an encouraging smile.

"Me too!" Alice squeezed her shoulder, "We're going to become great friends; I just know it!"

"Mm, I don't know, you seem a little too 'cool girl' for our group." Marlene stopped in front of the portrait of the pink dress lady. "Mimbletona." The portrait swung open, and she stepped in, not looking back.

Ginny walked in after her, "If anyone is a cool girl, it's you, not me."

Marlene broke into a grin, "We both know that's a lie, but I'll take it."

The following morning, the four Gryffindor boys cornered Ginny in the common room.

James and Sirius plopped down on either side of her on the couch, while Remus and Peter sat in the armchairs across from them, looking very uncomfortable.

Ginny's blush had returned full force as soon as James sat near her, but she tried her best to ignore it. "What's up, guys?" She squeaked.

"We have some questions for you," James said.

"Oh?"

"About Draco."

"Oh."

"How does he feel about pranks?"

She had no idea. "He loves them. He really can't get enough of them. We've had an ongoing prank war since we were toddlers."

Sirius clapped his hands together, "Perfect!"

"Time to get the Slytherins back." James jumped to his feet. "Let's go get our boy."

Ginny watched the group run off, eyebrows raised. So much for multiple questions. But this did give her an idea; she just had to get the other girls in on it. She smirked. They would never see this coming.


	5. The War Begins

Okay, maybe switching out the shampoo in the boys' bathroom with lime green hair dye wasn't the most original idea, but a good prank war has to start with some classics. It would have been untraceable, too, if third-year Frank Longbottom hadn't caught Ginny sneaking down the stairs.

So now, Ginny found herself racing through the corridors, her auburn hair flowing behind her. Every once in a while, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being followed. She gripped her wand tight, ready to fire off a spell at any second. She barrelled through a crowd of chatting first years, sending them scattering and not even bothering to apologize. Over the yells of the first years, she heard the dreaded sound of pounding footsteps. She glanced back again. Still empty. She looked back ahead just in time to see herself collide with someone and fall onto her backside.

She looked up at the boy leering at her. He was small and pale, with dark hair and a haughty expression that reminded her of Draco.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?" He asked. His voice was still high pitched and childlike, but he sounded like he was putting a lot of effort into sounding older despite it.

"Running, obviously." Ginny stood up and brushed herself off. 

He raised an eyebrow, "It's Saturday. We don't have any classes today."

Ginny shook her head, "Why would I run to class?" She glanced over her shoulder at the corridor behind her. Still empty. "I need to go..."

"Ah. Well, if you're attempting to outrun something, I would recommend you take the passage behind this portrait." He pressed a flagstone, and the portrait swung open, revealing a dark passage. 

"Oh," Ginny smiled and stepped into the passage, "Thanks."

He gave her a small smile. "I am Regulus, by the way. Regulus Black."

Ginny froze in shock. This was Sirius's infamous little brother. He winked and pressed the flagstone again. The portrait swung shut, plunging her into darkness.

"Lumos." The tip of her wand lit up, shining a soft glow over her surroundings.

She was standing on some stone steps in a narrow, vaguely wet tunnel that stretched on and down seemingly into eternity. It was like something out of a fantasy novel. Ginny just now realized that she had no idea where this passage was supposed to lead or how to get out.

"Well, there's just one thing for it, then," Ginny muttered to herself. She started down the staircase.

The stairs were a bit slippery. Ginny walked as fast as she could without falling. She did not want to be stuck in this creepy place forever. After what felt like hours, the stairs finally plateaued, and a stone wall faced Ginny with no visible door. 

She ran a tired hand through her hair and waved her wand in the general direction of the wall. "Revelio." 

The stone wall's appearance shifted and blurred, then cleared to reveal a wooden door with a brass handle. 

Ginny opened the door and stepped out....directly into the path of the one person she had been trying so hard to avoid.

She stepped back quickly with an awkward chuckle. "Ah. James."

The boy ran a hand through his lime-green hair and shoved his wand in her face, smirking evilly, "This was easier than I thought it would be."

"Sorry to disappoint." Ginny shrugged, "I got some rotten advice from a friend of yours." She glanced around the hall as she talked, looking for a way out.

"Yeah, that secret passage tends to drop people off where they don't want to go. You should learn not to listen to my friends. They give terrible advice."

Ginny grinned. This gave her an idea. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Now," James held the point of his wand against her temple, "I need to get rid of this ridiculous hair color."

"Are you sure?" Ginny batted her eyes and put on her most charming smile, "It really brings out your eyes."

"Yeah, no, I think I prefer the black. I'm sure green will look much better on you."

Ginny shook her head, "I'm more of a redhead, actually. Hey, I've got an idea!" She ducked under his arm and pushed him into the passage she had just come from. "Have fun!" Before he could stand up, she slapped the keystone on the wall and the door shut, locking him in. 

"And that's why I am the queen of wizard tag." She skipped down the hall with a triumphant grin, off to get revenge on that sneaky little Slytherin boy. 


End file.
